Obama's 'transparency' means no written record

Promises of "transparency" by Obama increasingly looks like a Big Lie strategy. The latest example was noted by Mary Katherine Ham at the Weekly Standard:

It's been four days since Press Secretary Robert Gibbs' first (and widely panned) appearance before the White House press corps, but no transcript, summary, or video of the event has shown up on WhiteHouse.gov. The delay could be forgiven in a less tech-savvy bunch, but given the Obama team's considerable online skill, the omission of the the transcript is clearly intentional.

In contrast, the Bush White House provided a transcript of every daily briefing, searchable and accessible in its own section on their web site. The archive, available via the Wayback Machine but not on the new WhiteHouse.gov, started Jan. 24, 2001. The Clinton White House also provided transcripts of the briefing, according to archives, at least as early as 1999.

It is fairly easy to predict that this sort of treatment will alienate some members of the press, but not others, who will remain loyal. This could actually get quite interesting if internecine warfare breaks out among a group formerly a pillar of Obama's power.

Hat tip: VM

Promises of "transparency" by Obama increasingly looks like a Big Lie strategy. The latest example was noted by Mary Katherine Ham at the Weekly Standard:

It's been four days since Press Secretary Robert Gibbs' first (and widely panned) appearance before the White House press corps, but no transcript, summary, or video of the event has shown up on WhiteHouse.gov. The delay could be forgiven in a less tech-savvy bunch, but given the Obama team's considerable online skill, the omission of the the transcript is clearly intentional.

In contrast, the Bush White House provided a transcript of every daily briefing, searchable and accessible in its own section on their web site. The archive, available via the Wayback Machine but not on the new WhiteHouse.gov, started Jan. 24, 2001. The Clinton White House also provided transcripts of the briefing, according to archives, at least as early as 1999.

It is fairly easy to predict that this sort of treatment will alienate some members of the press, but not others, who will remain loyal. This could actually get quite interesting if internecine warfare breaks out among a group formerly a pillar of Obama's power.